News

Sarah: Well we keep plugging away at projects here at QERC. I have been writing postcards to all of the biology departments within the CCCU (Council for Christian Colleges and University) trying to promote QERC a bit, and David has been working outside landscaping during the mornings while it isn't raining. He is switching out all of the non-native ornamental plants for native plants--so as to give a good representation of the plants that grow here in the valley. His hope is to make signs for the different plants, allowing for anyone who shows up at QERC (students, researchers, and even passing tourists) to have and educational experience just by walking around outside the building.

While David has been working outside, he has been fortunate to see many Quetzals fly back and forth right in front of him. The other day he actually saw a juvenile Quetzal with its father. He witnessed the father teaching its baby how to fly into the aguacatillo trees and eat some of the fruit off the tree. Pretty spectacular.

We also have a new neighbor here in the valley. For many months now we have been watching a house go up across the river from where we live and had heard that a gringo was going to be moving in. Harlan showed up at our place last weekend to introduce himself, and since he's been so happy to find someone who he can speak English with, we've talked every day since then! He is an early-retired man who is looking to spend half the year living and saving money in Costa Rica, and the other half the year traveling around the world. Harlan most recently lived in Los Angeles and worked doing documentary voice-overs for different shows including E-Hollywood Story, Pioneers of Primetime, and Modern Marvels. We had him over for dinner last night and had a good time getting to know him better.

And for some not-so-happy news, Lizeth (our housekeeper) told us today that she is putting in her two-weeks notice. It has been a long time coming, but we were still shocked with how soon she'll be leaving. Her husband is currently living with his parents a few hours south of us and is working on building them a house on his parents' property so he can better care for them and their land. Lizeth and the rest of her family have been deciding when to join him, and she finally decided that she wanted some time at home with her kids right now as they begin packing up and getting ready to move. We are really sad about the loss of Lizeth, and a bit overwhelmed as we need to find someone to replace her already next week so she can be trained by Lizeth.